Livestock Research for Rural Development 27 (10) 2015 Guide for preparation of papers LRRD Newsletter

Citation of this paper

A procedure for on-farm evaluation of East Coast Fever management in dairy cattle systems: a case of coastal lowlands of Kenya

C B Wasike

Department of Animal Science, School of Agriculture and Food Security, Maseno University, P.O. Box 333, 40105 Maseno.
wasikebwire@yahoo.co.uk

Abstract

A study was designed to develop procedure for valuation of East Coast Fever management through a factor based East Coast Fever management index. It quantified costs of East Coast fever management factors and revenue loss as result of East Coast fever incidence(s) within farms, for use as input variables by insurance firms and livestock compensation schemes. Annual estimates of the cost of East Coast fever management which could be used in determination of premiums and compensation by livestock insurance firms are presented.

Keywords: curative treatment, dairy systems, disease costs, prophylactic treatment, revenue losses


Introduction

Livestock insurance is a recent development in Kenya (Otieno et al 2006). The insurance premiums are determined by the highest sources of risks of loss (Larson et al 2003; Mohammed and Ortman 2005). Risks are partitioned by area with drought having great importance in arid and semi-arid areas whereas diseases such as East Coast Fever have greater importance in the pastoral areas of the lower rift valley and the coast (Otieno et al 2006). The risk index when insuring animals in the coastal lowlands is highest for East Coast fever due to the prevalence of the disease and associated mortalities, making it a critical component in calculation of insurance premiums and compensation. Quantified estimates of expenses and losses attributed to East Coast fever are important in valuation of the risk index for East Coast Fever. This paper presents a method for quantifying costs of East Coast fever management and its valuation of animals by insurance firms in the coastal lowlands of Kenya.


Materials and methods

Data source and animal management

Data for this study was collected from two privately owned commercial farms (Farms A and B; names withheld as requested by the producers) in Kilifi District of Kilifi County in the coastal lowlands of Kenya. The farms are situated approximately 5km and 30km, south of Kilifi town, respectively and fall within the same agro-ecological zone (coastal lowland I). The region is characterized by an average amount of rainfall, and high temperatures making it a high pressure belt for tick multiplication.

The two farms kept purebred exotic breeds (Holstein Friesian interspaced with Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Jersey and Guernsey, and their crossbred genotypes with the Sahiwal). Management of animals was within paddocks sowed with Rhodes grass pasture. Supplementary feeding was done for lactating animals in all farms although the level was varied between farms.

The farms adopted prophylactic measures to control endemic diseases and curative measures to treat animals whenever clinical symptoms of disease were reported. The most common diseases reported on the farms were East Coast fever, Anaplasmosis and Trypanosomosis. The farms had a foot bath at the entrance of the farm and practiced controlled access to the livestock units. Control of external parasites was by spraying in farm A and dipping in farm B. Internal parasites especially the helminthes were controlled by routine drenching using antihelmintics. Table 1 presents characteristics of the farms that were used as variables for computations.

Table 1. Variable descriptors of the large scale dairy farm characteristics and their East Coast fever (ECF) management strategies

Variable

Farm A

Farm B

Herd size

2000

1100

ECF Morbidity per year

20/2000

10/1100

ECF mortalities per year

5/2000

2/1100

Mode of ECF control

Spraying

Dipping

Dipping/spraying frequency

weekly

Every 4 days

Volume of base acaricide used (litres)

0.034 per animal per month

0.0064 per animal per month

Volume of top up acaricide (litres)

-

0.01 per animal

Cost of per litreacaricide (KES)

4250

3000

Length of dip/spray session (hours)

10

10

Form of labour

Casual/permanent

Permanent

price of casual labour (KES)

200 per session

-

Price of permanent labour (KES)

42 per hour

30 per hour

Number of labourers

5 (3 casual, 2 permanent)

4

Price of curative drugs per ECF incident (KES)

2200

2200

Cost of veterinary service per ECF incident (KES)

4000

4000

Cost of laboratory diagnosis per sample analysed (KES)

200

200

Drug withdrawal period (days)

21

21

Data collection

Semi structured Interviews were conducted with livestock managers in the respective farms using an interview schedule that had open ended questions to get the baseline information on East Coast fever management. The questions probed the producers on prevalence of East Coast fever on the farm, morbidity and mortality rates, control and curative management practices instituted, their costs and the factors that influence choice of a management practice, milk losses as well as losses due to death of animals and, the type and cost of labour. In addition, herd averages for cow productivity, value of lactating cows and heifers, as well as average milk prices were also probed (Table 2).

Table 2. Production attributes that affect revenue stream of the farms and their on farm valuation

Performance attributes

Farm A

Farm B

Av. Daily milk yield per cow (litres)

40

30

Price of milk per litre (KES)

50

50

Av. Price of lactating cow (KES)

150000

70000

Av. Price of a heifer (KES)

120000

70000

Computational procedure for calculating the monetary value of East Coast fever management

The cost of East Coast fever management was classified into two categories namely a). Successfully managed cases i.e. East Coast fever infected animals treated to heath and b). Fatal cases i.e. when the animal succumbed to East Coast fever. Implications of anticipation and/or incident of East Coast fever include cost of disease management and revenue losses whose sum gives the value of East Coast fever management. Therefore the value of East Coast fever management could be computed as:

Value of East Coast fever Management (VoEM) = Cost of Disease Management (CoDM) + Revenue Losses (RL)

Calculation of Cost of Disease Management (CoDM)

Cost of disease management (CoDM) was computed as the sum of the costs of prophylactic and curative strategies of disease management, i.e.

CoDM = cost of prophylactic management (CoPM) + cost of curative management (CoCM)

1. Computation of annual costs of prophylactic management per animal

The key factors of production whose costs have to be computed for prophylactic management of East Coast fever include labour and the acaricide used in the dip or spray race. This is computed as:

Annual CoPM per animal = (fixed costs (cost of disease management infrastructure e.g. dips and spray races, accounting for depreciation) + variable costs (Cost of Labour + Cost of dip wash/ spray race acaricide + cost of water)) ÷ Herd size

a) Annual Labour costs for dipping/spraying (LaCD)

LaCD= (Cost of Permanent staff (herders) per dipping/spraying session (CoPS) + cost of temporary staff per dipping/spraying session (CoTS))× number of dip sessions per annum

i. Cost of permanent staff per dip/spray session (CoPS)

CoPS= Number of staff × length of dip or spray session (hours)× Cost of unit Man hour

Cost of unit man hour = monthly pay÷ 30days÷8 hours per day

ii. Cost of temporary staff engaged per dip/spray session (CoTS)

CoTS= No. of staff × length of Dip or spray session (hours)× cost of unit Man hour

b) Annual Cost of dip/spray race acaricide (CoDA)

CoDA = cost of base acaricide(CoBA) + cost of top-up acaricide (CoTA)

i. Annual CoBA = Volume of base acaricide × cost per unit volume of acaricide

ii. Annual CoTA = Volume of top up acaricide per session × cost per unit volume of acaricide × number of dip/spray sessions per annum

c) Annual cost of water used for dipping/spraying (CoWD)

This was computed as a product of the cost per unit volume of water and the volume of water used per year for dipping/ spraying, i.e.

CoWD = volume of water per year × cost per unit volume of water

2. Computation of annual costs of curative management per animal

Curative management is a function of morbidity of the disease, cost of diagnosis and medicines as well as cost of veterinary care. Morbidity is expressed as a proportion of herd size. Therefore costs of curative management are presented relative to the herd size. As a result, annual relative herd costs of curative management of East Coast fever per animal (CoCM) were computed as:

CoCM = (cost of treatment per case × average annual morbidity) + (cost of lab diagnosis × Average annual morbidity)

Cost of treatment is the sum of the cost of the drugs and cost of veterinary service/care.

Average annual morbidity = number of disease incidences reported ÷ the herd size

Calculation of revenue losses (RL)

Revenue losses attributable to East Coast fever could be as a result of loss revenue from drop milk production when milking animal suffers from ECF, which could be well over three weeks, milk loss due to withdrawal as a result of treatment (on average most drugs have withdrawal period of 72 hours) and the value of the animal in the event of mortality. Therefore the revenue lost was a function of East Coast fever incidences and mortalities reported in the herd, and the unit price of milk and animal, respectively. East Coast fever incidence is expressed as a proportion of herd size, therefore, the revenue lost per animal is relative to the herd size computed as:

Annual relative herd RL per animal = annual relative herd revenue loss from milk (MRL) per animal + market value of animal in case of mortality

Annual relative herd revenue loss from milk (MRL) per animal = (milk yield per cow per day ×withdrawal period(days) + ((milk production× %drop in milk production) × convalescence period))× average morbidity× price of milk

Milk yield per cow per day = 305 Lactation milk yield÷ 365 days

Annual relative herd revenue lost due to mortality per animal = Market price of the animal × average herd mortality


Results and discussion

Factors of production that influence East Coast fever management across farms and their associated costs are presented in Table 3. Absolute costs of prophylactic management were highest in farm A. However relative to the herd size, cost of prophylactic management was highest in farm B as depicted in Table 4. The high costs in farm B could be attributed to the method of prophylactic management used. The farm uses a plunge dip for tick control. Given the standards in dimensions of the dip and guidelines on frequency of acaricide replenishment, a plunge dip is economical with large herds than small herds; therefore farm B would reduce its costs of prophylactic management by increasing the herd size. Relative to spraying, dipping of animals was a cheaper option of prophylactic management.

Table 3. Costs incurred and revenue lost in the management of ECF on the farms

Source of cost/ revenue losses

Farm A

Farm B

Cost of Prophylactic Management



Annual cost of base acaricide (KES) per animal

1950

229

Annual cost of dip Top-up acaricide (KES) per animal

0

2835

Annual cost of acaricide (KES) per animal

1950

3064

Cost of casual labour per session (KES) per animal

0.3

0

Cost of permanent labour per session (KES) per animal

0.42

1.09

Annual labor cost (KES) per animal

38.9

103

Cost of curative management



Annual morbidity (KES)

0.0100

0.00909

Cost Treatment per case (KES)

6200

5000

Cost of laboratory diagnosis per sample (KES)

200

200

Revenue losses



Average milk yield per cow per day (litres)

33.4

25.1

Annual relative herd milk revenue lost per animal (KES)

351

239

Annual relative herd revenue lost due to death (KES)



a) Heifer

300

127

b) Lactating cow

375

127

The coastal region is one of the areas in Kenya where East Coast fever is endemic with a morbidity rate of about 57% -79% in adult animals (Gichohi et al 2012). Relative to the region, the morbidity rates reported in this study are low owing to the prophylactic measures undertaken by the farms. A look at morbidity of East Coast fever in a year (data not shown) shows high incidences of East Coast fever during wet seasons. This could be attributed to the acaricide being washed off the body of cattle by rain water thus reducing the residual protection of the acaricide as well as increased tick activity during the wet season thus increasing disease challenge. Consequently, this period constitutes the most risk period hence critical for insurance in which the effectiveness of mitigation measures taken by the producer are evaluated. For instance,  it is recommended that frequency of dipping/spraying and acaricide replenishment (top up) be enhanced during wet seasons to mitigate increased disease challenge (Gachohi et al 2011). For purposes of livestock insurance, other than looking at morbidity of East Coast fever per se, it is equally important to look at the underlying factors to morbidity such as level of tick challenge, dipping frequency, dip wash sampling and analysis, as well as dip wash replenishment frequency. Both farm A and B had low incidences of East Coast fever of 0.0100 and 0.00909, respectively. This could be attributed to the restricted animal movement and contact of animals with external parties (both humans and animals) as well as strict adherence to dipping/ spraying routines. These farms had effective movement barriers to control animal movements and human entry into and exit from the farms. Elsewhere, studies have revealed higher prevalence of East Coast fever in extensive grazing systems than in intensive systems (Gichohi et al 2011; 2012; Rubaire-Akiiki et al 2004). Though these farms had large expenses for prophylactic management, their curative expenses were minimal. The relative cost of herd curative management of East Coast fever per animal was KES 64 and KES 47.3 in farm A and B, respectively (Table 3 and Table 4).

Table 4. Annual costs and revenue losses in KES associated with ECF management per animal

Farm

Annual prophylactic management

Annual relative cost of herd curative management

Annual relative herd revenue lost

Total

A

1989

64

725

2778

B

3167

47.3

367

3581

In endemic areas, East Coast fever has been associated with high mortalities (Gitau et al 2000). Revenue losses from East Coast fever are however not only limited to mortalities but also from drop in milk production from sick animals and total loss of milk during the withdrawal period in animals on treatment. This study was only able to estimate costs associated with animal mortality and loss of milk sales during the withdrawal period. Consequently, the values of revenue losses could be slightly underestimated since one component (drop in milk production for the theileria infected animals) was not included. This component could not be included due to the difficulty by the farms to ascertain the infection time which is critical in determining the incubation period of the disease and convalescence which was highly varied between animals. Revenue losses were least in farm B (Table 4). This could be attributed to the low morbidity in this farm resulting in only KES 239.290 loss in milk revenue during the withdrawal period (Table 3). Animals in Farm A and B were of good pedigree and high milk producers, therefore, though morbidity and mortality were low, a single disease incident or death had over reaching effects on farm profitability as compared to the would be effect in low producing animals. Due to their high productivity and pedigree, these animals fetched high market prices as breeding animals in other farms. Kahi and Nitter (2004) and Kahi et al (2004) reported milk production and sale of breeding stock as the key revenue sources of dairy production systems with resultant high economic values for milk productivity and fertility traits.


Conclusions


References

Gachohi J M , Kitala P M, Ngumi P N and Skilton R A 2011 Environment and farm factors associated with exposure to Theileria parva infection in cattle under traditional mixed farming system in Mbeere District, Kenya. Tropical Animal Health and Production 43: 271-277.

Gichohi J, Skilton R, Hansen F, Ngumi P and Kitala P 2012 Epidemiology of East Coast Fever (Theileria parva infection) in Kenya: past, present and the future. Parasites and vectors 5:194-206.

Gitau G K, Mcdermott J J, Katende J M and Perry B D 2000 The Epidemiology of Theileria parva Infections on Smallholder Dairy Farms in Kenya. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 916: 265–270, doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2000.tb05299.x

Kahi A K and Nitter G 2004 Developing breeding schemes for pasture based dairy production systems in Kenya I. Derivation of economic values using profit functions. Livestock Production Science 88: 161–177.

Kahi A K, Nitter G and Gall C F 2004 Developing breeding schemes for pasture based dairy production systems in Kenya II. Evaluation of alternative objectives and schemes using a two-tier open nucleus and young bull system. Livestock Production Science 88: 179–192.

Larson M M, Mark D R and Jose H D 2003 Livestock risk protection insurance for cattle: a new price- risk management tool. Historical materials from university of Nebraska- Lincoln Extension, Paper 83, http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/extensionhist/83.

Mohammed M A and Ortmann G F 2005 Factors influencing adoption of livestock insurance by commercial dairy farmers in three Zobatat of Eritrea. Agrekon 44: 172-186.

Otieno D J, Oluoch-Kosura W, Karugia J T, Drucker A and Rege E 2006 Risk management in smallholder cattle farming: a hypothetical insurance approach in western Kenya. A paper contributed to the 26th international association of agricultural economists conference, Gold Coast, Australia, August 12-18, 2006, Pp18.

Rubaire-Akiiki C, Okello-Onen J, Nasinyama G W, Vaarst M, Kabagambe E K, Mwayi W, Musunga D and Wandukwa W 2004 The prevalence of serum antibodies to tick-borne infections in Mbale District, Uganda: The effect of agro-ecological zone, grazing management and age of cattle. Journal of Insect Science 4: 1-8.


Received 27 January 2015; Accepted 27 July 2015; Published 1 October 2015

Go to top